Bulletproof Heart
by ThreeBulletsAtTheDangerParade
Summary: Part 2 of Killjoy Series. Sequel to Danger Days. Riot has finally been accepted into the Killjoys, much to Party's displeasure. But when all seems to be well, Ghoul is captured by BLI/nd and Doc won't let anyone go save him. Party won't have any of it, so he sets off to find his friend only to be forced into bringing Riot along. Can they learn to work together or will they burn?
1. Photograph Dream On The Getaway Mile

Chapter 1. _Got A Photograph Dream On The Getaway Mile_

Her golden eye searched his face wearily, her lips pressed in a fine line. She cocked her head slightly to the right, making her blue hair fall around her shoulders and her bangs come tumbling onto her face.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" She asked, her voice soft as to not wake any of the other Killjoys.

Ghoul grinned and shrugged. "We just wont get caught. Simple." He was already in the driver's seat, key in hand and ready to push it into the ignition.

"So," Riot started. "We shouldn't be doing this then." She stated dryly. Ghoul shrugged again.

"Possibly. But who cares? We'll be back." He waggled his eyebrows. "Unless you're scared."

Riot's left eye twitched. "Scared? You're fucking with me aren't you, Ghoul?" She opened the door and slipped into the Trans Am. Her arms crossed. "I ain't scared of no Drac or the desert. And I'm already getting used to being blind in one eye." She pointed to her bandaged right eye for effect. "It's getting kicked out of the Killjoys by your _fearless leader_," Riot mocked and Ghoul rolled his eyes. "That's got me worried."

"Party won't kick you out." Ghoul told her but then silently added. _But he might try. _

Riot raised an eyebrow. "Oh no? Yeah, well he might try." She sighed, running a gloved hand through her hair and Ghoul gulped silently. "Why does he hate me?"

Ghoul hesitated. "To be honest, not even I'm sure exactly. And he doesn't hate you, he just doesn't trust you." Riot looked at him, her eyes wide with curiosity. "He's gone through a lot. And not just as a Killjoy. His whole life, even before BLI/nd was one heck of a roller coaster." He gave her a tired smile, making Ghoul look ten years older to Riot. She realized that all these Killjoys' lives were probably harder than she ever would've thought, even before BLI/nd. She felt guilty for every time she scoffed at the Killjoys for not doing anything. She realized now, especially after that encounter with the Dracs a few weeks ago, you can't just charge into BLI/nd, guns-a-blazin'.

"All of us had hard lives, but we learned to cope."

"With music." Riot stated, thinking back to all the times she heard them over Dr. D's transmissions and all the times each one of them disappeared into the alleged recording room.

Ghoul cleared his throat, while wiping his hands on his jeans and nodding. "Yeah. Music." He trailed off. His eyes looked miles away. Years away even. The bright leaf greens of his eyes took a on a dreamy light and his lips curled softly at the ends.

She felt hate bubble in her stomach all over again. How dare BLI/nd do this? She wanted BLI down and so far into the ground there was no hope of it ever returning. That the fire in the earth's center burned the last shredded remains of Better Living.

She let her mind wonder to what Party Poison was like when he was happy. She wanted to see those hazel eyes light up and to see a smile break across his face. She tried to imagine it but all she got was a glare and a frown, seemingly permanent on his face.

She thought of her own life before BLI, back when she ran free in the streets of Portland in her red Life Guard sweatshirt. Headphones in and a new Kerrang! magazine in hand. Back when life was worth living for.

"Ready to go?" Ghoul asked, jarring her out of her own thoughts. She smiled,

"Let's go."

And as the two of them sped off into the night, the moon and stars lighting their way as they kicked all kinds of dust and rocks, the two Killjoys laughed. With the wind whipping their hair wildly and stinging their eyes until they were crying.

And Riot had never felt so free.

**I know it's short. It's kinda like a prologue. And I want to set Ghoul's and Riot's relationship in motion, it plays a big part in the story as a key factor, but no, they are not romantically involved. Just friends, close friends. **

**BTW, have any of you listened to the band Imagine Dragons? I love them :) They're fabulous. **

**So this my friends is the start of Bulletproof Heart, part 2. **

**TBATDP**


	2. Come On, Come on, Kiss My Battery!

Chapter 2: _She said, "Come on, come, kiss my battery…"_

A mass of brown curls peaked around and into the cramped room. She giggled when her suspicions were confirmed: the teen girl was still asleep. If Riot's labored breathing and light mumbling proved anything anyways.

_At least she doesn't snore like Party. _Missile thought wryly with a smirk.

She silently crept farther into the dark room, her boom box in hand. She mentally crossed her fingers that she wouldn't make any loud or sudden movements that might cause Riot to wake.

The younger girl was a foot, (at least she guessed, it was nearly impossible to see with the little light that came from the hallway), from the bed when she stepped on… something and collapsed onto the ground, the boom box following her.

Missile froze, her eyes wide as she stared in horror at Riot's resting figure. _Don't wake up. Oh God, I'm dead…_

But to Missile's surprise, the teen didn't even stir. Just continued to sleep. Missile slowly stood up and this time, extra carefully made her way over to the bed. She peaked over the covers to see Riot was still fast asleep. She doubted the teen had even twitched because of Missile's blunder. She breathed out a sigh of relief.

And then she smirked. And action. Missile picked up the boom box; double checked the volume (maximum of course) and set it by Riot's peaceful face. Silently laughing she smashed her hand down on the 'ON' button and the machine burst to life.

_I DRINK JUICE WHEN I'M KILLIN' CAUSE IT'S FUCKIN' DELICIOUS!_

Riot launched from the bed with a thunderous scream before she came crashing back down to earth. Face first into the hardwood floor. Missile howled with laughter as Riot slowly lifted her head.

"What. The. Fucking. Hell." Riot snarled before she launched forward, her hands out stretched and eyes wild. "You little monster—"Missile hardly had time to react before Riot's hands were on her. Her doe eyes widened.

"Wait—Ah, oh! NO! Ghoul! Kobra! Jet! PARTY! Help!" Missile called just before biting Riot's finger. The said teen yelped and dropped her prey, giving the curly haired girl enough time to make a break for it.

"Oh, no you don't—" Riot started when Jet Star appeared in the hallway. Missile saw him immediately and ran to hide behind his large frame. Riot scowled and crossed her arms, glaring venomously at the little girl. Jet raised an eyebrow, but amusement sparkled in his brown eyes.

"Morning ladies. What have we been up to?"

"Murder." Riot stated bluntly. Jet snorted, Riot was not one for beating around the bush. Missile whimpered from behind him but Jet ruffled her hair affectionately.

"You've been causing trouble I see, Missile." He scolded playfully. Missile giggled but clung to Jet's leg tighter under the glare Riot was sending her. _If looks could kill. _Jet snorted.

"She's a demon, yes," Jet told the blue-haired girl, ignoring the protests from the girl at his feet. "But we love her. So let's not kill her. Cool?"

Riot glared at him but relented anyways. "Fine. But let's not pull any more stunts like that. I won't be forgiving the second time around." Jet laughed as he pried the girl off of his legs.

"See? She's not going to kill you. Not yet anyways." He turned back to Riot, "breakfast is ready by the way." Riot sighed but nodded anyways. They watched Jet's muscular figure retreat down the stairs before Missile turned to the teen girl, her big doe eyes wide,

"You don't hate me do you?" Missile sniffled. And Riot faltered under those mooneyes,

"No. I don't hate you." Missile squealed and gave her a large hug just as Ghoul called from down stairs.

"Hurry up! Or I'll eat it all!" Both girls knew that was something not to challenge and made their way down the stairs as fast as they could. Ghoul grinned fiendishly at them and while Missile went to sit, he flashed a quick wink. Riot rolled her eyes and took the seat next to her friend.

"Where's the Doc?" She asked as she spooned some more dog food onto her plate, trying to stop from cringing at the sounds. Kobra shrugged and Riot knew that's all she was going to get.

"Ok, then…" She surveyed the room, Ghoul was stuffing his face and the same could be said for Jet, only he didn't look nearly as pig like. Kobra ate his food silently, his face devoid of all emotions (not that that surprised her). Missile was as bubbly as usual, filling up any awkward silence with her incessant chatter. And Party was glaring at Riot sourly. She met his gaze but the redhead didn't even turn away, just kept his glare focused on her.

"Geez Pa-teh. Oo ook ike yer ryin' to urn oles in er ace." Ghoul said through a mouth full of food and spraying said food all over the table. Riot rolled her eyes.

"Where were you last night?" Riot choked on her food and Ghoul spluttered. Party continued to glare, "Where?"

"Um—" Ghoul swallowed. "We don't know what you're talking about." Riot resisted the urge to kick him and Party smirked.

"I wasn't talking to you, Ghoul, now was I?"

"Uh—"

"Exactly." Party snapped. "Now, where were you two last night?" His accusing glare flickered between the two of them. Riot shrugged.

"Nowhere really." Party lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh, no?"

Ghoul swallowed. "Party, leave Ri alone. She didn't do anything, I practically abducted her. We just went for a spin last night. Nothing major and nothing happened." Ghoul took another bite of the food slop and shrugged. "No biggie."

"You think so?" Party fumed. "You really think that it was _no biggie?_" He sneered. Kobra sent him a glare that, surprisingly sobered the redhead up, but Party was still glaring at the teenage girl.

"We'll see about that." He snapped before leaving the table with enough dramatic flourish to be his own one-man act. Kobra sent her an apologetic look before following his fuming brother.

Ghoul reached over and gave her hand a light squeeze. "Sorry, Ri." She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"For what? You didn't do anything. It's my fault. Maybe if I had never even bothered you guys, you'd—"

"That's not true." Jet interrupted. Riot blushed; she had forgotten he was there. Missile too. "Party… He's a great guy. And we have hopes that he'll regain those qualities, but Party hasn't been the same for years now." Jet pointed a finger at her while Ghoul stroked her hair. "This isn't your fault." Riot looked away, Missile's big doe eyes were making her stomach knot.

"He hates me."

Jet gave her a stern look. "Party doesn't hate anyone other than BLI/nd and Stephanie Meyer." Jet cracked a grin, she giggled and Ghoul snorted. Missile just looked around confused. "He's just… Well he doesn't hate you." Riot rolled her eyes at his lame attempt to convince her. Jet sighed and shared a look with Ghoul.

_This wasn't going as planned._

**So yeah. Chapter two. I know, not much action. OMG I went to Warped Tour! AHHHHHHH! Lostprophets were there! They're tied with 30 Seconds to Mars and Blink-182 for my third favorite band :P I love them, they're amazing live. **

**(Curious? Check out Last Train Home, Rooftops, For All These Times Kid, For All These Times, Jesus Walks plus more, PM me or drop a review.)**

**TBATDP**


	3. The Only Hope For Me

Chapter 3: _The Only Hope For Me…_

Party Poison snarled as he paced the room. Kobra was surprised he hadn't burned holes through the wooden floors of the safe house. Yet.

"Calm your tits, Poison." He snapped. "It's not that big of a deal, so Ghoul and Riot hung out. They stayed out late. Big deal." The blonde shrugged, completely unaffected by the hazel glare coming from his brother. "They didn't get captured, injured, or killed. Let it go."

Party bristled. "Let it go? Are you kidding me? If I let this go, then what's next? Missile takes a stroll late at night and it's totally fine?" Kobra rolled his eyes.

"That's completely different and you know that. Missile is a young girl. A child. Ghoul can fight and Riot can hold her own, even with lack of sight."

Party pointed an accusing finger at him. "But that's exactly it, her lack of eye is a liability. If she and Ghoul ran into trouble, Ghoul would have to take care of her blind side as well as his own back."

Kobra leaned forward and glared at the redhead. "You know that's not true. Ghoul and Riot fucking train together, they have each other's backs in training, they'll have each other's backs out in the desert." Party turned away, grumbling. Kobra smirked. "This isn't even really about them sneaking out isn't it?" Party turned back to give him an icy stare, as if to challenge him to voice his thoughts. "You're jealous." Kobra leaned back, smirking and watched as the emotions swam across his face.

"You hate the fact that Riot has Ghoul's back. And you hate the fact that Ghoul _really _likes Riot." He snorted. "Hell, you don't even hate Riot as much as you've deluded yourself into believing. You would probably even really like Riot, if it wasn't _Ghoul and Riot _all the time."

Party snarled, "I'm going to the shooting range." And he stormed out of the room. Kobra listened to the thundering footsteps of Party before the slam of the safe house door crashed closed. The blonde laughed silently. Party was as stubborn as hell.

* * *

Missile crawled over to Riot; her large brown eyes were especially wide and Riot immediately knew she wanted something. Ghoul turned over and smirked at her before bringing a cigarette back to his lips.

"Hey kiddo." She greeted. Missile smiled shyly, another sign that she was in want of something.

"Riot?" Ghoul snorted next to her but shut up quickly when Riot gammed her elbow into his side. He winced and rubbed his side.

"Can you braid my hair?" Riot let out a sigh of relief. That was something she could do. She gave Missile a small smile.

"I don't see why not." Missile giggled but turned around her seat so her back faced the teen girl. Riot ran her fingers through her dark, mass of curls.

"You have such pretty hair." She mumbled causing the little girl to giggle. Riot started to divide her hair into three parts, completely unaware of Ghoul's green eyes on her. He watched as she carefully pulled and twisted Missile's hair, watching as Riot made small comments that caused Missile to launch into a long spout of chatter and giggles. He felt a warm bubble up in the pit of his stomach and his heart squeezed a little at the sight. It was one of the first gestures he had seen in a long time that really reminded him of what they were fighting for.

It gave him hope. Real, genuine hope. And pride, like this, these little moments between two sisters, two friends, two family members were the ones that made even such a cold world seem worthwhile. A real reason to fight.

Ghoul grinned. _If only Party could see this…_

* * *

Ray smiled softly as he watched from the doorframe. His eyes flickered between Riot, her tongue sticking out between her lips as she concentrated on taming Missile's hair. Missile giggling and using wild hand gestures, a trait she picked up from Party in their earlier days of rebellion. And Ghoul, staring kindly, a certain fire of hope alight in his eyes, as he watched the scene unfold.

Kobra slipped right up to him silently. "We'll make it out of this alive." He commented. And for the first time in a long time, it was said as a statement, it was certain. Kobra believed every word that came from his lips. And Ray couldn't help but love him for it.

* * *

Party glared at the target, aka, an empty can of dog food and took aim again. Fire. The satisfying sound of the laser piercing the thin metal made the redhead smirk.

He thought back to what his little brother had said. And as much as he hated to admit it, Kobra was kind of right. Not completely of course, but kind of. Maybe he didn't hate Riot as much as he'd like to. Maybe he didn't even hate her at all. He thought about her, her golden eyes (well, _eye_) and freckles.

No, he couldn't ever hate her, especially after she risked her life for Missile.

And maybe Kobra was right about the jealousy. Ghoul was his best friend, he was supposed to have his back and Ghoul would have his. But he had screwed things up pretty royally with the raven-haired Killjoy.

He sighed and took aim again.

He felt like an ass for being a jerk to Riot for something that wasn't honestly a big deal. But the thought of apologizing to the blue haired girl made his mouth dry and taste bitter. He wasn't going to apologize to a rogue. He might not hate her, but he didn't trust her. At all.

Fire.

And apologizing meant admitting he was wrong which would all together make it seem as if he was wrong about not trusting her, but that was _not _the case. He'd trust her with his life the day he gave his gun to Korse.

But he did silently thank her for being the female figure Missile. It made his almost wish he was wrong about her not being trustworthy, he'd hate to see Missile get crushed by that.

He took aim again as he made a silent vow to himself. If Riot ever turned her back on the Killjoys, if she broke Missile's heart, he'd personally put the hole through her pretty little head.

Fire.

But he couldn't stop the small prayer that escaped his chapped lips. _Don't let that happen. Please. _

He turned and headed back to the safe house, his thoughts all pretty well sorted out. There were still many things left unsolved but he didn't want to dwell on those. He passed the window and the scene in the small room made him pause.

Riot was braiding Missile's hair, her face was on fire as Ghoul had his mouth open in a loud belly laugh. Missile looked confused and Party could see Jet chuckling and Kobra smirking. It made his heart give a small jump and he almost fell over when it happened. There was a time he was pretty convinced that his heart was frozen and dead.

It almost made him let out a real smile, but he only let a soft curve of his lips slip through. _Maybe there's hope for me after all…_

* * *

Doc watched as Party walked away from the melting cans, his brow furrowed and deep thought etched onto his features. The redhead paused by the window, no doubtly hearing the tremors of Ghoul's thunderous laugh from down stairs.

Party seemed startled for a second before a small, almost smile appeared on his face. The redhead shook his head before walking over to the door.

The Doc leaned back in his chair, taking in the sound of the laughter from the Killjoys. He wanted to enjoy this, if for the last time.

He wanted to ignore the pull in his gut and the darkness in his mind but the shadows lingered. It was almost happy now, but he knew it wouldn't last. Nothing lasts in the desert.

This was only the calm before the storm. You feed the people hope before you make them feel absolute terror. He frowned.

The world was about to come crashing down and the Doctor prayed they could remember today as the ashes fall around them, the remains of their worlds left like the rubble of the American dream.

**Yep. There's that, hope you enjoy. I had fun writing this one :)**

**TBATDP**


	4. Nothing You Can Say

Chapter 4: _Nothing You Can Say_

Riot glared at the redhead in front of her. He was picking a fight and Riot wasn't in the mood to lie over and let him land his blows. She was pissed and had been trying to silently seethe on her own, to avoid her maybe killing one of the Killjoys and thus getting kicked out, but, no, the only Killjoy who couldn't stand her had to show up. His tongue was like a knife and Riot was using every trick in the book to stop from slamming her fist into his face.

And maybe she wouldn't be as pissed if he wasn't the one messing with her mind. She didn't know how, or why, but she'd be damned if she tried to deny that the hotheaded Killjoy hadn't been on her mind for a while now. His absolute, obvious loathing for her drove her mind crazy, and she couldn't figure it out. She couldn't figure him out. Why did he hate her? What exactly had she done to get herself marked on the top of his personal hit list?

It was this question that actually started this whole spat anyways. The blue-haired teen often, when on her own, voiced every single thought that raced through her head. Sometimes these… voiced inner monologues could escalate and the teen found herself ranting to herself. It didn't bother her anymore, she had told at a young age, she was slightly mad. But to anyone who didn't know her, and now a days that was pretty much anyone else alive, it was probably unnerving.

So as she sat alone with her raging thoughts, an old acoustic guitar Ghoul loaned her perched in her lap, next to the rotting shed a couple miles away from the diner. She had played a lame version of American Idiot for a little before her thoughts stole her away from reality.

What she didn't know, is that apparently, Party Poison used the shed as his own personal hideout. And he happened to catch her just as the question burst from her lips in an angry snarl. His own dislike and distrust for the teen took control before he made a snarling remark. Mentally he winced as soon as the bitter words passed his lips and he watched as the girl looked up at him, her one eye wide with disbelief.

"You're talking to yourself? Are you fucking mental?" He spat. The redhead didn't understand, however, how that jab would affect her, and how well aimed it actually it was. But he continued, "And at the top of my list?" He sneered. "Don't flatter yourself. I've got better things to waste my ammunition on."

Her emotions raged a war against one another. Her eye pricked with tears, but she wasn't sure if they were angry tears or she really was hurt by his venomous words. She bit her lip but she wasn't positive it was because she was holding back a biting remark or a small whimper.

She didn't like the control he had over her mind. Over her emotions. It was infuriating.

She picked up the guitar as she lifted herself off the ground, dusting off the sand. "Sorry I bothered you." She snapped. It was ridiculous really; he was the one sauntered over and began to verbally assault her. But it proves to show how badly she wanted to remain apart of the Killjoys. To stay and have a sister, to be a mother to Missile, she wanted to stay to hear the few words Kobra spoke, she wanted to chat nonsense with Jet, strategy with Dr. D, and random girly things with Show.

And Ghoul… Riot blushed and Party raised an eyebrow at her. She _really _wanted to stick around to be with him.

Party glared at her as she began to walk away. "Aren't you supposed to be spunky? Violent? Aren't you a rebel? Killjoys don't just lie over and play dead." He called after her. He wasn't really sure why he was calling out to her, throwing more insults he was sure would get under her skin. He felt bad about it really, she was being a bigger person, and walking away when it was obvious he was being an asshole.

Riot froze. _Killjoys don't just lie over and play dead._ She thought about her time in the ocean, the tides swirling around her as she just gave up. No one cared. No one ever cared. No one ever will.

"I guess you're right." She answered. "But I'm not much of a Killjoy anyways." She turned and looked at him, her amber eye met his with such ferocity that Party stopped and gulped. "And you would know, wouldn't you? You made sure of it."

Party was shocked to see a small tear slip down her cheek before she apologized and ran off in the direction of the safe house. A sick feeling slipped down his throat, leaving a burning trail, and dropped into his stomach.

Ghoul watched as Party came back to the safe house. The smaller Killjoy crackled his knuckles in anticipation; he couldn't wait to show his best friend his fist. The asshole had the nerve to go and make Riot cry. He hadn't known her long, but he had seen her take down Drac after Drac, while her body was left in shreds. She hadn't cried. But something Party had said hit home with her.

He remembered seeing her come back, shoving the guitar into his hands, before she made her way into her room. He followed her in a hurry to find her staring at the wall, her face blank, before she let out a scream and smashed her hand into the wall. Ghoul had rushed forward and used her blanket to caress her bloody knuckles. He could only stare as tears began to flow freely.

She didn't say much, but he knew Party had done something. It made his blood boil.

But as he looked at his friend, his feet dragging and a painful expression on his face, he left his anger slip away. Sure, he was still pissed, he wasn't going to forgive the redhead for making Riot cry easily, but… maybe punching his lights out is a bit much.

He looked at his best friend as he entered his safe house. The two made eye contact and Party flinched.

"Is… Is she ok?" Ghoul rolled his eyes.

"She'll live." He answered. "I'm taking her out."

The redhead froze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm taking her out for a drive tonight. To get her mind off everything. She needs a break from all the stress she's been under." Party winced again. "Plus I think you could use a break too."

He cast his hazel eyes away. "Maybe…"

**Kinda lame, yes. But I'm setting the stage for the actual story. So, brace yourself. **

**TBATDP**


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